Port congestion is getting out of control as truckers are waiting hours to get in to terminals to load containers. Truckers in line to enter terminal in Long Beach. Photo by Robert Casillas / Daily Breeze

The California Air Resources Board announced this week it reached a $2.5 million settlement with SSA Containers Inc. and its affiliates, which the state agency said failed to repower, retire or retrofit its equipment at the ports of Long Beach and Oakland.

The company also failed to certify large spark ignition engines on yard trucks servicing those terminals, as required by state law, according to CARB.

“This settlement is part of a dynamic, focused effort to protect the health of people who live and work near ports from the harmful effects of diesel exhaust,” CARB Executive Officer Richard Corey said. “We are glad that these worthy projects will benefit from the settlement monies but are working diligently toward the day when California’s air is so clean that they will no longer be necessary.”

SSA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

According to CARB, SSA and its affiliates will pay $1.25 million to the Air Pollution Control Fund for pollution research, $728,060 to the South Coast Air Quality Management District to fund air filtration systems in schools located near ports, and $521,940 to the Prescott-Joseph Center for Community Enhancement to fund the Northern California Breathmobile, which travels to disadvantaged communities in the Bay Area to meet health care needs of children with asthma.

CARB officials said SSA Containers and its affiliates fully cooperated during the investigation, and as part of the settlement, replaced all uncertified engines operating at its facilities to reach compliance with the state agency’s Cargo Handling Equipment and Large Spark Ignition Engine Regulations.